Alison Lam

Experiments

Exploring dialogues between myself and my two autistic boys, our family and professionals involved with their care. Its not always a pretty one, its often heartbreaking and sad. Followed by frustrations in the system for SEN parents. My work is a portrial of what its like to be in the middle of this chaos. Both good and bad.
It is a journey to raise awareness that hopefully will make people not look just at what they see but what is behind the behaviours. To not just discard so quickly.

My dialogues and communications with my two boys with autism have taught me the importance of empowerment. To change the viewers perception of what they think they see and what they really see (Bredlau, 2011). The desire not only to make the viewer look and look again, but to be able to take away something, anything be it thought, feeling, new words or new ideas on how to view something and really slow down and soak it in (Massumi, 2002). Perhaps subconsciously I have always sought the discarded and remake it into a ‘thing’ or ‘object’ of value. Perhaps I see myself liken to an alchemist, to turn something discarded into an object of value. Perhaps as Bishop writes, we examine ourselves when faced with something unfamiliar to our own identity (Bishop, 2004).

Maybe I do not need to learn this, but rather I should attempt to teach this to others….

It doesn’t look vulgar though my eyes, but when I see it looking vulgar through yours, I want to change that fleeting glance if only for a few moments…..

Beauty can make us stop to reflect and take a “second look” but sometimes we need a bit of encouragement when it is not so obvious. I reach out beyond the myriad of clinical and social labels, which define and influence how we view people, objects, and how in turn we are viewed by society.

“The Notion of the Beautifully Discarded’’

My film “The Notion of the Beautifully Discarded” is about my dialogue and communications between myself and my boys.

It is also about raising awareness of hidden disabilities (in both my boys cases ASD/Autism with complex needs) to not judge or act on what we do not see. To look beyond what’s on the outside. To take a second look and not too discard so quickly what we do not always understand. Was shown at Social Art Summit in Sheffield on 1st & 2nd November 2018.